The Barriers that Separate Us

10-03-2021Weekly Reflection© J. S. Paluch Company

We live in a society that has many technological avenues for stimulation and entertainment, one in which the urban population exceeds the nonurban. It is curious that loneliness is a prevalent malady. It is easy to reach out and touch someone, we are told.

But—in truth—it is not all that easy, and statistics from the mental health field will reinforce that opinion. Today’s readings are about the ways in which we can authentically reach out: God touches Adam to create a mate and end his solitude; God-in-Jesus takes on human flesh and death in order that we might come to glory; Jesus reaches out to the children whom the disciples had tried to keep away, showing us the manner in which we must approach the loving embrace that awaits us in heaven.

Until that day, however, we must remember that ours is a sacramental church, a church of signs of the love of God. And so we are called to reach out continually to ease the loneliness and the barriers that separate us from one another and, therefore, from the love of Christ.